Nairobi Woman Representative Esther Passaris on Wednesday found herself the subject of social media trolling, after she revealed that she had traveled to Thailand, one of the Asian countries described as high-risk areas, amid the deadly Chinese Coronavirus outbreak.
Taking to Twitter, the MP shared a live video of herself at an airport in Bangkok, Thailand, where she flew to attend a Universal Health Care, reproductive rights and immunization forum, at the invite of the Prince of Thailand.
According to Passaris, she was not going to let her just-concluded spinal treatment period deter her performance as a legislator, which is why she jumped right back to work, after getting back to Kenya from an Indian hospital on Sunday.
Bangkok, Thailand #PMAC2020 Focus on Primary Healthcare as a pathway to #UHC https://t.co/VHIIyfajkq
— Hon. Esther M Passaris (@EstherPassaris) January 29, 2020
With her face partly covered by a surgical mask, Passaris explained that it was currently mandatory for everyone in the country to wear the protective gear, since the contagious disease is mostly airborne.
Thailand has registered at least 15 suspected Coronavirus cases so far.
She faulted Kenya’s Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) standards in terms of health protocol, wondering why similar stringent protective measures had not yet been enforced at the high human traffic facility.
Kenyans on Passaris’ timeline were, however, unconvinced that the MP was safe from catching the infection, faulting her for having traveled at such a dire time.
The Prince Mahidol UHC Forum 2020 will run up to Feb. 2.
The woman representative was also quick to point out that her trip was entirely donor-funded, and not dependant on Kenyans’ money.